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Cheptegei to stroll marathon journey with new manager

Manager Jurrie van der Velden (L) and coach Addy Ruiter (R) celebrate Joshua Cheptegei's first-ever major global title after he won the senior men's 10km race during the 2019 World Cross-country Championship. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Goodbye Farewell. Beginning 2025, Joshua Cheptegei will work with a new manager Youri Verbaas following Jurrie van der Velden’s exit from athletics. Jurrie managed Cheptegei from 2014 and turned him into the country’s greatest athlete ever. Jurrie’s craft which yielded four Olympic gold medals for Uganda over 17 years now has won him a new role at Feyenoord football club in Rotterdam where he will be tasked to churn out young talent for market to bigger European clubs.
Following a complete switch from track to road, Joshua Cheptegei will run two full marathons in a calendar year for the first time in his elite running career.
However, that 2025 chapter will happen without one of Cheptegei’s key team members: Jurrie van der Velden. The Dutch man had been Cheptegei’s manager for a decade but he ceased being in that role at the end of 2024.
The trio of Jurrie, coach Addy Ruiter and physio Vinne Los from the Dutch management Global Sports Communication (GSC) formed the inner core that built Cheptegei into a world beater.
Between them, they created Uganda’s most successful athlete - with four medals from the World Athletics Championships including a 10000-metre gold three-peat.
Cheptegei is best decorated Ugandan with three Olympic medals including two golds, one being the 10000-metre title he won at the Paris Olympics in France last August.
However, Jurrie is ending the relationship and quitting managing Ugandan athletes over a period of nearly two decades. “Back in 2007-2008 I couldn’t have dreamed of where we stand today, and the impact I have had in Uganda but also within the distance running world,” Jurrie said in a recent interview.
He first managed Ugandan runners in 2007 and it was the late Benjamin Kiplagat over the 3000-metre steeplechase event and then long-distance runner Stephen Kiprotich.
Jurrie departs the stage after impacting Ugandan athletics significantly, making the country a new powerhouse in the global long-distance running arena.
“Uganda was not just a job; I can say I really have changed something which has been impactful. Before it used to be red (Kenya) versus green (Ethiopia), now also yellow (Uganda) is taking part in that battle,” he said.
Over the years, athletes managed by Jurrie won for Uganda a combined 21 medals across the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and the World Athletics Championships.
Of that total, Cheptegei won nine of them, more than any other athlete. The tally also comprises the first-ever Ugandan female Olympic medalist in steeplechaser Peruth Chemutai.
In Olympic history, Uganda boasts of 13 medals and six have been masterminded by Jurrie, that including Kiprotich’s surprise London 2012 marathon gold in England.
Four of Uganda’s five Olympic gold medals were engineered by Jurrie and his team. Yet, it is this success of 41 individual medals for Uganda across eight continental and global championships that has led to his departure.
Jurrie is switching from athletics to Dutch Eredivisie football club Feyenoord as the head of operations at Feyenoord Academy in Rotterdam. “I am really excited about the opportunity Feyenoord is giving me and the trust they give me to start in this new role,” he said.
About 100 different Ugandan athletes managed by Jurrie including Halimah Nakaayi, world marathon champion Victor Kiplangat, Winnie Nanyondo, and Stella Chesang among others graced the global athletics stage.
“We have got very many wonderful moments together, especially in 2019, the Doha World Athletics Championships in Qatar,” Nakaayi said of Jurrie. “Those memories will always stay. I am super proud of him and best wishes.”
“Jurrie focused on the person behind the athlete and transformed Uganda’s athletics landscape. His absence leaves a significant gap for both the athletes and the nation,” noted coach Ruiter.
“I know they (athletes) are in good hands and the vision, philosophy and way of working we have built over the years will be continued,” added Jurrie.
Cheptegei in particular will be managed by Jurrie’s former understudy Youri Verbaas, who will take on some more athletes. “Personally, Jurrie has been a great mentor and he showed me how to work with Uganda’s greatest talents,”
Some other Ugandan names could be listed under Valentin Trouw, who manages Kenyan stars Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon. And global athletics events previously handled by Jurrie are planned to move to Daan van der Berg.
ABOUT JURRIE VAN DER VELDEN
Full Name: Jurrie van der Velden
Born: November 22
Nickname from Ugandan athletes: “Manager”
Home town: Ridderkerk, Netherlands
Outgoing role at Global: Athletes Representative and Event Manager Road Racing
New Role: Head of Operations at Feyenoord FC Academy
Sports ever done: Athletics
Favourite Food: Italian
Favourite Colour: Probably green/blue
Current Phone type: Samsung
Favourite town / city in Uganda: Jinja
Favourite food in Uganda: Rolex, Muchomo, fried fish, samosa
Best Uganda athletics moment (Uganda): Kampala World Cross-country 2017 & National Cross-country
Total Number of athletes you worked with in Uganda: 100 made it to the international stage
Best Ugandan athlete you worked with: Joshua Cheptegei
How many countries visited in Africa: 7
Total Countries visited across the world: 50
Favourite Holiday Destination (Global): Italy & Portugal
MAJOR MEDALS MASTERMINDED BY JURRIE VAN DER VELDEN / GSC
OLYMPIC GAMES
London 2012: Stephen Kiprotich (Gold, Marathon)
Tokyo 2020: Joshua Cheptegei (Silver, 10000m & Gold, 5000m), Peruth Chemutai (Gold, 3000m Steeplechase)
Paris 2024: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, 10000m), Peruth Chemutai (Silver, 3000m Steeplechase)
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Glasgow 2014: Winnie Nanyondo (Bronze, 800m), Abraham Kiplimo (Bronze, Marathon)
Gold Coast 2018: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, 10000m & Gold, 5000m), Stella Chesang (Gold, 10000m), Mercyline Chelangat (Bronze, 10000m)
Birmingham 2022: Victor Kiplangat (Gold, Marathon), Peruth Chemutai (Silver, 3000m Steeplechase)
WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Moscow 2013: Stephen Kiprotich (Gold, Marathon)
London 2017: Joshua Cheptegei (Silver, 10000m)
Doha 2019: Halimah Nakaayi (Gold, 800m), Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, 10000m)
Eugene 2022: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, 10000m)
Budapest 2023: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, 10000m), Victor Kiplangat (Gold, Marathon)
WORLD ATHLETICS U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bydgoszcz 2008: Benjamin Kiplagat (Silver, 3000m Steeplechase)
Moncton 2010: Jacob Araptany (Bronze, 3000m Steeplechase), Annet Negesa (Bronze, 800m)
Eugene 2014: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, 10000m)
Tampere 2018: Peruth Chemutai (Silver, 3000m Steeplechase)
Nairobi 2021: Prisca Chesang (Bronze, 5000m)
Cali 2022: Prisca Chesang (Bronze, 5000m)
Lima 2024: Keneth Kiprop (5000m Bronze), Charity Cherop (5000m Bronze)
WORLD ATHLETICS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Aarhus 2019: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold, Senior Men’s 10km)
Bathurst 2023: Joshua Cheptegei (Bronze, Senior Men’s 10km)
Amman 2009: Moses Kibet (Bronze, Junior Men’s 8km)
WORLD ATHLETICS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Belgrade 2022: Halimah Nakaayi (Bronze, 800m)
AFRICA SENIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Porto Novo 2012: Benjamin Kiplagat (Bronze, Steeplechase)
Asaba 2018: Ronald Musagala (Bronze, 1500m)
Douala 2024: Tom Dradriga (800m Bronze), Esther Chebet (1500m Bronze)
AFRICAN GAMES
Rabat 2019: Halimah Nakaayi (Bronze, 800m)
Accra 2024: Halimah Nakaayi (Silver, 800m), Peruth Chemutai (Silver, 3000m Steeplechase)